Authentication device, terminal device, image forming system, and non-transitory computer readable medium

ABSTRACT

An authentication device includes an input unit that inputs specific information of an application to be installed and specific information of an image forming device which is an installation destination, and a controller that collates the specific information of the application and the specific information of the image forming device with a database to output an authentication result indicating that authentication has been performed or has not been performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2016-200382 filed on Oct. 11, 2016.

BACKGROUND (i) Technical Field

The present invention relates to an authentication device, a terminaldevice, an image forming system, and a non-transitory computer readablemedium storing a program.

(ii) Related Art

Hitherto, various license authentication techniques have been proposed.

SUMMARY

There have been known add-on type applications which are added later andoperated on an image forming device such as a multi-function printer.The applications can be installed and set up on a target image formingdevice by a user through an installer or the like. Regarding an onerousapplication among such applications, a user needs to legally acquire theright to use the onerous application on the basis of a contract. Theproving of being a regular user needs to be performed once or more at astage before the use of the application. Even when an application or aninstaller is illegally acquired, a certain validity verificationfunction is executed, and thus a process of inhibiting the set-upprocessing or the start-up of the application may be performed. Arepresentative validity verification method is a software licenseauthentication method.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided anauthentication device including an input unit that inputs specificinformation of an application to be installed and specific informationof an image forming device which is an installation destination, and acontroller that collates the specific information of the application andthe specific information of the image forming device with a database tooutput an authentication result indicating that authentication has beenperformed or has not been performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiment (s) of the present invention will be described indetail based on the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram (Part 1) of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram (Part 2) of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram (Part 3) of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram (Part 4) of the exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram (Part 1) illustrating a screen of the exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram (Part 2) illustrating a screen of the exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram (Part 3) illustrating a screen of the exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram (Part 4) illustrating a screen of the exemplaryembodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram of another exemplaryembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an image formingsystem in this exemplary embodiment. The system includes a terminaldevice 10 such as a PC or a tablet terminal, an authentication device12, and an image forming device 14 such as a multi-function printer. Theterminal device 10, the authentication device 12, and the image formingdevice 14 are connected to a network 16 so as to be capable oftransmitting and receiving data.

The terminal device 10 stores an installer (set-up program) forinstalling an application to be added to the image forming device 14 onthe image forming device 14 and a processing program for performing aprocess required for the application to be installed on the imageforming device 14. Hereinafter, the processing program and the installerwill be collectively referred to as an installer. The terminal device 10acquires information for uniquely specifying an application to beinstalled on the image forming device 14 and information for uniquelyspecifying the image forming device 14 which is an installationdestination of the application, and transmits these pieces ofinformation to the authentication device 12 through the network 16.

The authentication device 12 stores an authentication processing programfor performing an authentication process at the time of installing anapplication on the image forming device 14. The authentication device 12determines whether or not authentication has been completed, on thebasis of the information transmitted from the terminal device 10, thatis, information for specifying an application to be installed andinformation for specifying the image forming device 14 which is aninstallation destination, and transmits the result thereof to theterminal device 10.

The image forming device 14 is a multi-function printer that performsplural functions such as scanning, FAX, printing, and copying, and isthe image forming device 14 on which any application may be installedlater. The terminal device 10 installs an application to be installed onthe image forming device 14 which is an installation destination andsets up the application in a case where an authentication resultindicating whether the authentication has been performed is obtainedfrom the authentication device 12.

A process in the terminal device 10 is realized by the execution of theinstaller, and a process in the authentication device 12 is realized bythe execution of the authentication processing program.

Processes of the terminal device 10 are as follows:

-   -   Start-up of the installer    -   Specification of an application to be installed and the image        forming device which is an installation destination    -   Acquisition of information (specific information) for uniquely        specifying the application to be installed and information        (specific information) for uniquely specifying the image forming        device which is an installation destination    -   Transmission of the information (specific information) for        uniquely specifying the application to be installed and the        information (specific information) for uniquely specifying the        image forming device which is an installation destination to the        authentication device 12    -   Reception of an authentication result obtained by the        authentication device 12    -   Installation of the application to be installed on the image        forming device which is an installation destination in a case        where the authentication result indicates that authentication        has been performed    -   Transmission of license authentication information to the        authentication device 12 in a case where the authentication        result indicates that authentication has not been performed

In addition, processes of the authentication device 12 are as follows:

-   -   Input (reception) of information (specific information) for        uniquely specifying the application to be installed and        information (specific information) for uniquely specifying the        image forming device which is an installation destination    -   Determination of whether or not authentication has been        completed by collating the information (specific information)        for uniquely specifying the application to be installed and the        information (specific information) for uniquely specifying the        image forming device which is an installation destination with        information registered in a database    -   Transmission of an authentication result to the terminal device        10    -   Input (reception) of license authentication information        transmitted from the terminal device 10 in a case where the        authentication result indicates that authentication has not been        performed    -   An authentication process using the license authentication        information    -   Registration of associated pieces of information of the        information (specific information) for uniquely specifying the        application to be installed, the information (specific        information) for uniquely specifying the image forming device        which is an installation destination, and the license        authentication information in a database

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of the system in FIG. 1.

The terminal device 10 is a PC or a tablet terminal, and includes acontroller 101 constituted by one or plural CPUs, a ROM 102, a RAM 103,a communication interface (I/F) 104, and an operation unit 105. Inaddition, the terminal device includes a display unit such as a display,but may include a touch panel functioning as both the operation unit 105and the display unit. The ROM 102 (or a program memory such as an SSD oran HDD) stores an OS, necessary driver software, and an installer, andthe controller 101 executes the installer to transmit information to theauthentication device 12 through the communication interface 104 and thenetwork 16, and installs a target application on the image formingdevice 14 on the basis of an authentication result from theauthentication device 12. In a case where a reply from theauthentication device 12 indicates that authentication has not beenperformed, a user operates the operation unit 105 of the terminal device10, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a pen to input the licenseauthentication information, and transmits the license authenticationinformation to the authentication device 12. In a case where a replyfrom the authentication device 12 indicates that authentication has beenperformed, the user does not need to input the license authenticationinformation, and the license authentication information, of course, isnot transmitted to the authentication device 12 through the network 16.

The authentication device 12 functions as an authentication server onthe network, and includes a controller 121 constituted by one or pluralCPUs, a ROM 122, a RAM 123, a communication interface (I/F) 124, anoperation unit 125, and a database (DB) 126. The ROM 122 (or a programmemory such as an SSD or an HDD) stores an OS, necessary driversoftware, and an authentication program for executing an authenticationprocess. The controller 121 executes the authentication program todetermine whether or not authentication is necessary, by usinginformation received from the terminal device 10, and transmits theresult thereof to the terminal device 10 as a reply. Specifically, whenthe information for uniquely specifying an application to be installedand the information for uniquely specifying the image forming device 14which is an installation destination, which are transmitted from theterminal device 10, are received through the network 16 and thecommunication interface 124, the controller 121 collates the pieces ofinformation with the database 126 to determine whether or not the set oftwo pieces of information has already been registered in the database126. When the set of two pieces of information has already beenregistered in the database 126, a reply indicating that authenticationhas been performed is transmitted to the terminal device 10. When theset of two pieces of information has not yet been registered in thedatabase 126, a reply indicating that authentication has not beenperformed is transmitted to the terminal device 10 through thecommunication interface 124 and the network 16. In this case, since thelicense authentication information is transmitted from the terminaldevice 10, the controller 121 receives the license authenticationinformation through the network 16 and the communication interface 124,confirms whether or not the license authentication information isregular information, and newly registers the information for specifyingan application to be installed, the information for specifying the imageforming device 14 which is an installation destination, and the licenseauthentication information in the database 126 in association with eachother when the authentication can be performed. In this exemplaryembodiment, the communication interface 124 functions as an input unitthat inputs the specific information of the application to be installedand the specific information of the image forming device which is aninstallation destination, and the controller 121 functions as acontroller that collates the specific information of the application andthe specific information of the image forming device with the databaseand outputs an authentication result indicating whether or notauthentication has been completed.

The image forming device 14 includes a controller 141 constituted by oneor plural CPUs, a ROM 142, a RAM 143, an HDD 144, an input and outputinterface (I/F) 145, an operation unit 146 such as a touch panel, and animage forming unit 147.

The controller 141 receives a printing job command and the like from anexternal terminal device through the input and output interface 145 inaccordance with the processing program stored in the ROM 142 (or the HDD144), analyzes PDL data to generate intermediate data, and furthergenerates drawing data (raster data) from the generated intermediatedata. In addition, the controller 141 executes various commands, such ascopy, scan, and fax, which are received from the operation unit 146.Further, the controller 141 receives an application supplied by theinstaller of the terminal device 10, and stores and adds the receivedapplication in the HDD 144.

The image forming unit 147 includes a print module, a scanner module, afacsimile module, a sheet feeding module, a copy feeding module, and animage processing accelerator.

The print module is a module having a function of outputting an image toa sheet. For example, the print module has a known inkjet typeconfiguration, and prints drawing data on a sheet. The print moduleejects liquid or fusible solid ink from a nozzle or the like to performrecording on paper, a film, or the like. Examples of a method ofejecting ink include a drop-on-demand method (pressure pulse method) ofejecting ink by using electrostatic attraction, a thermal inkjet methodof ejecting ink by using the pressure generated by the formation anddevelopment of air bubbles by intense heat, and the like. A recordinghead includes a head that ejects cyan ink, a head that ejects magentaink, a head that ejects yellow ink, and a head that ejects black ink,and a line head having at least the same width as the width of a sheetis used for the heads. Ink droplets of the respective colors are ejectedonto an intermediate transfer body and are recorded by the recordinghead, and are then transferred to the sheet, thereby printing the sheet.

The scanner module is a module that reads an image from the sheet andconverts the image into electronic data.

The facsimile module is a module that includes a modem and an imageprocessing module for facsimile and executes a facsimile function.

The sheet feeding module is a module that transports the sheet to theprint module from a sheet tray.

The copy feeding module is a module that transports the sheet to thescanner module from a copy tray.

The image processing accelerator is a module that performs compressionand extension in association with the scanner module and the like. Theimage processing accelerator is not an essential module, and may beconfigured as an additional module.

In addition, the image forming device 14 may include a finisher thatperforms patching, sorting, and the like of a sheet, a USB, anauthentication unit which is constituted by an IC card reader and thelike and performs user authentication, a charging unit, a human sensor,a facial camera, and the like. In addition, the image forming device 14may include Ethernet (registered trademark) or WiFi (registeredtrademark).

The network 16 is the Internet, a local area network (LAN), or the like,but may be a wired or wireless network without being limited thereto. Inaddition, the network may be a public line or a dedicated line. Theterminal device 10 and the authentication device 12 may be connected toeach other through a protocol such as HTTPS.

Hereinafter, a process of adding an application executed by the terminaldevice 10, the authentication device 12, and the image forming device 14will be described in detail.

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram of the terminal device 10, theauthentication device 12, and the image forming device 14. First, in theterminal device 10, when a user starts up the installer, the controller101 displays a screen for prompting the input of an application to beinstalled and the image forming device 14 which is an installationdestination of the application on the display unit. The user inputs theapplication to be installed and the image forming device 14 which is aninstallation destination of the application on the screen. Thecontroller 101 transmits a request for acquiring fixed information foruniquely specifying the image forming device 14 to the image formingdevice 14, which is input by the user, through the communicationinterface 104 and the network 16. The image forming device 14 receivingthe user's input is the name, the IP address, or the like of the imageforming device 14, and the fixed information for uniquely specifying theimage forming device 14 is invariable information which is inherent inthe image forming device 14, and specifically, is a model code, amachine serial key, and the like of the image forming device 14. Themodel code and the machine serial key are assigned to the image formingdevice 14 at the time of the factory shipment and are stored in the ROMor the like.

When the controller 141 of the image forming device 14 receives therequest for acquisition from the controller 101, the controller readsthe specific information, such as the model code and the machine serialkey, which is stored in the ROM 142, and transmits the specificinformation to the controller 101 of the terminal device 10 through thenetwork 16 as a reply.

When the controller 101 receives the specific information from thecontroller 141 of the image forming device 14, the controller thenacquires the specific information for uniquely specifying an applicationto be installed from a specific file of a target application, forexample, a registry file. The specific information for uniquelyspecifying an application to be installed is invariable informationinherent in the application, and specifically, is a commodity code(product key) or the like of the application.

When the controller 101 acquires the commodity code (product key) as thespecific information of the application to be installed (hereinafter,referred to as “application specific information”) and the model codeand the machine serial key as the specific information of the imageforming device 14 which is an installation destination (hereinafter,referred to as “image forming device specific information”), thecontroller transmits these pieces of information to the authenticationdevice 12 through the network 16. Meanwhile, these two types ofinformation are not secret information in spite of being informationinherent in the application or the image forming device 14, and do nothave confidentiality like license authentication information.

When the controller 121 of the authentication device 12 receives twotypes of information from the controller 101, the controller determineswhether or not the two types of information have already been registeredin the database 126 with reference to the database 126. In a case wherethe two types of information have already been registered, thecontroller 121 transmits a reply indicating that authentication has beenperformed to the controller 101. On the other hand, in a case where thetwo types of information have not yet been registered in the database126, the controller 121 transmits a reply indicating that authenticationhas not been performed to the controller 101.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram in a case where the controller 121 of theauthentication device 12 determines that authentication has not beenperformed.

The controller 121 of the authentication device 12 determines thatauthentication is necessary and transmits a reply indicating thatauthentication has not been performed to the controller 101 of theterminal device 10 in a case where two types of information of theapplication specific information and the image forming device specificinformation are not registered in the database 126 as described above.

When the controller 101 receives a reply indicating authentication hasnot been performed, the controller determines that licenseauthentication is necessary and displays a screen for prompting theinput of license authentication information on the display unit. A userinputs license authentication information of an application to beinstalled, for example, a license key in accordance with the screen. Thecontroller 101 transmits the input license authentication information tothe authentication device 12.

When the controller 121 of the authentication device 12 receives thelicense authentication information, the controller performs anauthentication process in accordance with an authentication processingprogram. Specifically, the received license authentication informationis collated with predetermined information, and it is determined whetheror not both the pieces of information conform to each other. In a caseof conformity, the controller 121 associates the application specificinformation, the image forming device specific information, and theinput license authentication information with each other, registers theassociated information in the database 126 as a set, and transmits areply indicating that authentication has been performed to thecontroller 101.

When the controller 101 receives the reply indicating thatauthentication has been performed, the controller transmits anapplication to be installed to the image forming device 14 which is aninstallation destination in accordance with the installer, and sets upthe application. The controller 141 of the image forming device 14receives a target application from the terminal device 10, stores thereceived target application in the HDD 144, and adds the application.When the controller 101 receives a reply indicating that authenticationhas been performed, the controller deletes the license authenticationinformation which is input by the user from the memory.

On the other hand, FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram in a case where thecontroller 121 of the authentication device 12 determines thatauthentication has been performed.

The controller 121 of the authentication device 12 transmits a replyindicating that authentication has been performed to the controller 101of the terminal device 10 in a case where two types of information ofthe application specific information and image forming device specificinformation are already registered in the database 126 as describedabove.

When the controller 101 receives the reply indicating thatauthentication has been performed, the controller transmits a targetapplication to be installed to the image forming device 14 in which theinstallation is to be performed, in accordance with the installer toinstall the application, and sets up the application. The controller 141of the image forming device 14 receives the target application from theterminal device 10, stores the target application in the HDD 144, andadds the application. At this time, the license authenticationinformation is not transmitted and received through the network 16.

FIG. 6 is another sequence diagram in a case where the controller 121 ofthe authentication device 12 determines that authentication has not beenperformed.

In a case where two types of information of the application specificinformation and the image forming device specific information are notregistered in the database 126, the controller 121 of the authenticationdevice 12 determines that authentication is necessary and transmits areply indicating that authentication has not been performed to thecontroller 101 of the terminal device 10.

When the controller 101 receives the reply indicating thatauthentication has not been performed, the controller determines thatlicense authentication is necessary and displays a screen for promptingthe input of the license authentication information on the display unit.A user inputs license authentication information of a target applicationto be installed, for example, a license key in accordance with thescreen.

The controller 101 performs predetermined character string processing onthe input license authentication information, compares the input licenseauthentication information with the application specific information,and determines whether or not both the pieces of information conform toeach other. Predetermined license authentication information (licensekey) and the commodity code (product key) as application specificinformation have a fixed relationship, and the commodity code (productkey) is obtained when performing predetermined character stringprocessing on regular license authentication information. Therefore,when a processing value obtained by processing the input licenseauthentication information and the application specific information arecollated with each other and conform to each other, it is verified thatthe input license authentication information is the regular licenseauthentication information.

In a case where it can be verified that the input license authenticationinformation is regular license authentication information, thecontroller 101 transmits sequence authentication information which isinput in the same manner as in the sequence diagram illustrated in FIG.4 to the authentication device 12. The subsequent processing is the sameas that in FIG. 4. That is, when the controller 121 of theauthentication device 12 receives the license authenticationinformation, the controller performs an authentication process inaccordance with an authentication processing program. Specifically, thereceived license authentication information is collated withpredetermined information, and it is determined whether or not both thepieces of information conform to each other. In a case of conformity,the controller 121 registers the application specific information, theimage forming device specific information, and the input licenseauthentication information in the database 126 as a set, and transmits areply indicating that authentication has been performed to thecontroller 101.

When the controller 101 receives the reply indicating thatauthentication has been performed, the controller transmits a targetapplication to be installed to the image forming device 14 in which theinstallation is to be performed, in accordance with the installer toinstall the application, and sets up the application. The controller 141of the image forming device 14 receives the target application from theterminal device 10, stores the target application in the HDD 144, andadds the application. Meanwhile, when the controller 101 receives thereply indicating that authentication has been performed, the controllerdeletes the input license authentication information from the memory.

On the other hand, in a case where it cannot be verified that the inputlicense authentication information is the regular license authenticationinformation, the controller 101 determines that the input licenseauthentication information is not appropriate, and displays the inputlicense authentication information not being appropriate on the displayunit to prompt the re-input of the license authentication information.In a case where the license authentication information is input again,the controller 101 similarly performs predetermined character stringprocessing and collates the license authentication information with theapplication specific information to perform verification. In a casewhere the number of times of re-input reaches a fixed upper limit, thecontroller 101 stops the installation in the image forming device 14.According to this example, the validity of the license authenticationinformation is checked by the processing within the terminal device 10,and unnecessary transmission and reception may be suppressed.

Meanwhile, in FIG. 3, when two types of application specific informationand image forming device specific information are already registered inthe database 126, the controller 121 of the authentication device 12transmits a reply indicating that authentication has been performed tothe controller 101 of the terminal device 10, but a set of (applicationspecific information, image forming device specific information, andlicense authentication information) is registered in the database 126.Accordingly, when an expiration date is set in the licenseauthentication information, it may be determined whether or not thelicense authentication information is within the expiration date, withreference to the expiration date. When the license authenticationinformation is within the expiration date, a reply indicating thatauthentication has been performed is transmitted to the controller 101of the terminal device 10. When the expiration date has expired, a replyindicating that authentication has not been performed is transmitted tothe controller 101 of the terminal device 10 even when two types ofvalues are already registered. In this case, two types of informationand the license authentication information are registered in thedatabase 126 again in accordance with the sequence of FIG. 4 or FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a screen 11 displayed on the displayunit of the terminal device 10. When a user operates the operation unit105 of the terminal device 10 to start the installer, the controller 101displays a screen for setting a target application to be installed onthe display unit in accordance with the installer. Regarding theinstaller, the program name thereof is displayed at the upper portion ofthe screen as “application installer”, and a screen 111 for specifying atarget application to be installed is displayed. For example, the userselects an application to be installed from among the applicationslisted within the screen 111 by using a mouse or the like. When theapplication to be installed is selected and set, the controller 101acquires application specific information of the selected applicationfrom a registry file or the like.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a screen displayed after the targetapplication to be installed is selected in FIG. 7. The controller 101displays a screen for setting the image forming device 14 which is aninstallation destination on the display unit in accordance with theinstaller. A list screen 113 of IP addresses of image forming devices 14which are already input is displayed together with an input field 112for specifying the image forming device 14 by an IP address. This screenshows that two image forming devices 14 specified by two IP addresses of172.27.241.190 and 172.27.241.191 are set as image forming devices 14which are installation destinations. As shown in this example, thenumber of image forming devices 14 which are installation destinationsis not required to be one, and target applications may be simultaneouslyinstalled on plural image forming devices 14. When the image formingdevice 14 which is an installation destination is set, the controller101 automatically transmits a request for acquiring image forming devicespecific information to the set image forming device 14 as describedabove, and receives the image forming device specific informationreturned from the image forming device 14. Two types of information ofapplication specific information and image forming device specificinformation are transmitted to the controller 121 of the authenticationdevice 12.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a screen in a case where informationindicating that authentication has not been performed is received fromthe controller 121 of the authentication device 12. The controller 101displays the input field 114 of the license authentication informationon the display unit in accordance with the installer. When a user inputsthe license authentication information, the license authenticationinformation associated with the image forming device 14 for whichsetting has been performed in the previous screen is displayed on thelist screen 115. When the user inputs the license authenticationinformation and operates an “install” button, the controller 101transmits the license authentication information to the controller 121of the authentication device 12. Meanwhile, in the sequence of FIG. 6,the license authentication information which is input in the controller101 is verified, and is transmitted to the controller 121 of theauthentication device 12 only when the license authenticationinformation is verified. In a case where the license authenticationinformation cannot be verified, a message such as “licenseauthentication information has an error” is displayed on the screen 11.When the user inputs correct information in response to the message, theinformation is transmitted to the controller 121.

When the controller 121 of the authentication device 12 receives thelicense authentication information, the controller performs anauthentication process, registers a set of (application specificinformation, image forming device specific information, and licenseauthentication information) in the database 126, and transmits a replyindicating that authentication has been performed to the controller 101.When the controller 101 receives the reply indicating thatauthentication has been performed, the controller transmits a targetapplication to be installed to the image forming device which is aninstallation destination to install the application. When the controller141 of the image forming device 14 completes the installation of thetransmitted target application, the controller transmits a completionnotification to the controller 101 as a reply.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a screen in a case where installationhas been completed. When the controller 101 receives the completionnotification from the controller 141 of the image forming device 14, thecontroller displays a list screen 116 of information (IP address in thedrawing) for specifying the image forming device 14 which is aninstallation destination and also displays information indicating thatthe installation has been completed. Naturally, information forspecifying a target application installed in the example of the screenmay be displayed. A user can know that the application has beeninstalled and set up in the image forming device 14 by visuallyrecognizing the screen.

In this manner, in this exemplary embodiment, application specificinformation and image forming device specific information aretransmitted to the authentication device 12, and the installation of anapplication is performed when authentication has already been performed.Accordingly, it is possible to complete the installation withouttransmitting the license authentication information through the network16. In addition, it is possible to complete the installation only bytransmitting the license authentication information to theauthentication device 12 from the terminal device 10 only once in a casewhere authentication has not been performed. Further, in this exemplaryembodiment, the license authentication information is unitarily managedin the authentication device 12, and is not stored in a cache memory ofthe terminal device 10 or the image forming device 14. In this exemplaryembodiment, the application specific information and the image formingdevice specific information transmitted to the authentication device 12do not have confidentiality, and are not misused even when an illegaluser taps these pieces of information. That is, the illegal user havingperformed tapping has no mechanism such as a UI for inputting thesepieces of information, and thus cannot misuse the information.

In this exemplary embodiment, attention has to be paid to the fact thatit can be confirmed whether or not authentication has been performed inthe authentication device 12 only by transmitting and receiving twotypes of information having no confidentiality such as applicationspecific information and image forming device specific informationwithout inputting license authentication information again, referring toa cache of the license authentication information, and transmitting andreceiving the license authentication. It can be said that this exemplaryembodiment satisfies the following two conditions:

(1) the license authentication information is not stored for a longperiod of time in a device other than the authentication device 12; and

(2) only information having no confidentiality is used to confirmwhether or not authentication has been performed, and the licenseauthentication information with high confidentiality is input,transmitted, and received only once as a rule. Thereby, it is possibleto prevent the license authentication information from being illegallyacquired due to an ill-intentioned dumping act for a node other than theauthentication device 12 and to effectively suppress tapping.

As described above, the exemplary embodiment of the present inventionhas been described. However, the present invention is not limitedthereto, and various modification examples can be made. Hereinafter,these modification examples will be described.

Modification Example 1

In the exemplary embodiment, the terminal device 10, the authenticationdevice 12, and the image forming device 14 are configured to beconnected to the network 16 as illustrated in FIG. 1. However, the imageforming device 14 may have a function of the terminal device 10, and theauthentication device 12 and the image forming device 14 may beconfigured to be connected to the network 16.

FIG. 11 illustrates a system configuration in this case. The imageforming device 14 has a function of the terminal device 10, and aninstaller is stored in a program memory such as a ROM or an HDD. Thecontroller 141 of the image forming device 14 starts the installer onthe basis of a user's operation instruction, acquires applicationspecific information and image forming device specific information, andtransmits the acquired application specific information and imageforming device specific information to the authentication device 12. Thecontroller 121 of the authentication device 12 determines whether or notthe two types of information has already been registered with referenceto the database 126, and transmits a reply indicating thatauthentication has been performed or has not been performed to the imageforming device 14. The controller 141 of the image forming device 14immediately performs the installation of an application whenauthentication has been performed. When authentication has not beenperformed, a user is prompted to input license authenticationinformation, and the input license authentication information istransmitted to the authentication device 12. In a case whereauthentication is performed by the authentication device 12, thecontroller 141 performs the installation of an application. In addition,the controller 141 deletes the input license authentication informationfrom the memory.

Even in this modification example, it is possible to confirm whether ornot authentication has been performed only by transmitting two types ofinformation having no confidentiality without inputting, transmitting,and receiving license authentication information and to perform theinstallation of an application when authentication has been performed.Even when authentication has not been performed, the input,transmission, and reception of license authentication information may beperformed only once.

Modification Example 2

In the exemplary embodiment, a case where an application is installed onplural image forming devices 14 has been described (see FIGS. 8, 9, and10). In a case where ten image forming devices 14 are set to transmitapplication specific information and image forming device specificinformation to the authentication device 12 and only seven image formingdevices among the ten image forming devices have completedauthentication, the authentication device 12 transmits a replyindicating that authentication has been performed only to sets of anapplication and the image forming devices 14 having been subjected toauthentication, and transmits a reply indicating that authentication hasnot been performed to the other image forming devices. In this case, thecontroller 101 of the terminal device 10 prompts the input of licenseauthentication information for the sets of an application and the imageforming devices 14 not having been subjected to authentication, and auser collectively inputs the license authentication information for theplural sets not having been subjected to authentication (see FIG. 8).Thereby, it is possible to suppress the number of times of input of thelicense authentication information to once.

Modification Example 3

In the exemplary embodiment, the input field 112 for inputting an IPaddress of the image forming device 14 in which installation is to beperformed is displayed as illustrated in FIG. 8, but an input field forinputting a user name and a password of a manager (administrator or thelike) of the image forming device 14 may be additionally displayed.

Modification Example 4

In the exemplary embodiment, the controller 101 of the terminal device10 acquires application specific information and image forming devicespecific information in accordance with an installer and transmits theacquired pieces of information to the authentication device 12. However,this is automatically performed in association with the start-up of theinstaller, and a user is not aware that these pieces of information aretransmitted to the authentication device 12. In a case where it isdetermined that authentication has already been performed in theauthentication device 12, the installation of an application isautomatically performed, and thus the user is not conscious thatauthentication has been performed in the authentication device 12.However, the application specific information and the image formingdevice specific information may be transmitted to the authenticationdevice 12 in response to the user's operation instruction.Alternatively, the fact that authentication has been performed in theauthentication device 12 may be displayed on the display unit of theterminal device 10 in a case where authentication has been performed,and the execution of installation of an application may be started inresponse to the user's operation instruction.

Modification Example 5

In the exemplary embodiment, a model code and a machine serial key havebeen described as image forming device specific information. In additionto this, a character string having a model code and a machine serial keybeing connected to each other or a media access control (MAC) addressmay also be used.

Modification Example 6

In the exemplary embodiment, when the authentication device 12 receivesapplication specific information and image forming device specificinformation, it is determined whether or not authentication has beenperformed by using the two types of values. However, the two types ofvalues are not registered in the database 126 at this point in time.When license authentication information is received due toauthentication not having been performed and authentication is normallyperformed, a set of (application specific information, image formingdevice specific information, and license authentication information) isregistered in the database 126. However, as the application specificinformation and the image forming device specific information at thistime, application specific information and image forming device specificinformation which are received and temporarily stored in the memory areused. However, the terminal device 10 transmits these two types ofvalues to the authentication device 12 again when transmitting licenserecognition information, and the authentication device 12 may registerthe two types of values to be transmitted later again in the database126.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention has been provided for the purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modificationsand variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, therebyenabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited tothe particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An authentication device comprising: a hardwareprocessor, configured to: receive specific information of an applicationto be installed and specific information of an image forming devicewhich is an installation destination from a terminal device or from theimage forming device; collate the specific information of theapplication and the specific information of the image forming devicewith a database to output an authentication result indicating thatauthentication has been performed or has not been performed; in responseto any one of the specific information of the application and thespecific information of the image forming device being absent in thedatabase, transmit the authentication result indicating thatauthentication is required to install and setup the application on theimage forming device to the terminal device, wherein the terminal deviceprompts a user to input license authentication information of theapplication after receiving the authentication result indicating thatauthentication is required from the authentication device, receive thelicense authentication information of the application from the terminaldevice, perform authentication by using the license authenticationinformation, associate the specific information of the application, thespecific information of the image forming device, and the licenseauthentication information with each other, register the associatedspecific information of the image forming device, and the associatedlicense authentication information in the database as a completion ofthe authentication, in response to the completion of the authentication,transmit the authentication result indicating that authentication hasbeen performed to the terminal device, wherein the terminal devicedeletes the license authentication information after receiving theauthentication result that authentication has been performed, and allowthe terminal device to transmit the application to the image formingdevice for installation and setup of the application; and in responsethat the specific information of the application and the specificationinformation of the image forming device have both been registered in thedatabase, transmit the authentication result indicating thatauthentication has been performed to the terminal device, and allow theterminal device to transmit the application to the image forming devicefor installation and setup.
 2. The authentication device according toclaim 1, wherein the specific information of the application to beinstalled is a unique commodity code or a unique product key of theapplication, wherein the specific information of the image formingdevice is a model code or a machine serial key of the image formingdevice, and wherein the license authentication information is a licensekey of the application and has a fixed relationship with the specificinformation of the application.
 3. The authentication device accordingto claim 1, wherein the hardware processor receives specific informationof another image forming device as another installation destinationalong with the specific information of the image forming device from theterminal device, wherein the hardware processor performs the licenseauthentication information with respect to the image forming device andthe another image forming device at the same time, and wherein thehardware processor allows the terminal device to transmit theapplication to the image forming device and the another image formingdevice for installation and setup of the application in response to theauthentication result indicating that authentication has been performedto the terminal device.
 4. The authentication device according to claim3, wherein the image forming device and the another image forming deviceare selected at the same time by the terminal device.
 5. A terminaldevice comprising: a transmitter that transmits specific information ofan application to be installed and specific information of an imageforming device which is an installation destination to an authenticationdevice; and a hardware processor, configured to: in response to any oneof the specific information of the application and the specificinformation of the image forming device being absent in a database andin response that an authentication result indicating that authenticationis required to install and setup the application on the image formingdevice is received from the authentication device, prompt a user toinput license authentication information of the application, transmitthe license authentication information of the application from thetransmitter to the authentication device, receive an authenticationresult indicating that authentication has been performed from theauthentication device after the authentication has been performed andcompleted, and delete the authentication information after receiving theauthentication result indicating that authentication has been performedfrom the authentication device, and transmit the application to theimage forming device through the transmitter for installation and setup;and in response that an authentication result authentication resultindicating that authentication has been performed from theauthentication device, transmit the application to the image formingdevice through the transmitter for installation and setup.
 6. An imageforming system comprising: an image forming device that transmitsspecific information of an application to be installed and specificinformation of an image forming device which is an installationdestination; and an authentication device that comprises a hardwareprocessor configured to: receive the specific information of theapplication and the specific information of the image forming device;collate the received information with a database to output anauthentication result indicating that authentication has been performedor has not been performed to the image forming device; in response toany one of the specific information of the application and the specificinformation of the image forming device being absent in the database,transmit the authentication result indicating that authentication isrequired to install and setup the application on the image formingdevice to the terminal device, wherein the terminal device prompts auser to input license authentication information of the applicationafter receiving the authentication result indicating that authenticationis required from the authentication device, receive the licenseauthentication information of the application from the terminal device,perform authentication by using the license authentication information,associate the specific information of the application, the specificinformation of the image forming device, and the license authenticationinformation with each other, register the associated specificinformation of the image forming device, and the associated licenseauthentication information in the database as a completion of theauthentication, in response to the completion of the authentication,transmit the authentication result indicating that authentication hasbeen performed to the terminal device, wherein the terminal devicedeletes the license authentication information after receiving theauthentication result that authentication has been performed, and allowthe terminal device to transmit the application to the image formingdevice for installation and setup of the application; and in responsethat the specific information of the application and the specificationinformation of the image forming device have both been registered in thedatabase, transmit the authentication result indicating thatauthentication has been performed to the terminal device, and allow theterminal device to transmit the application to the image forming devicefor installation and setup the application on the image forming device.7. The image forming system according to claim 6, wherein the terminaldevice or the image forming device verifies the license authenticationinformation, and transmits the verified license authenticationinformation to the authentication device.
 8. A non-transitory computerreadable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute:transmitting specific information of an application to be installed andspecific information of an image forming device which is an installationdestination; in response to any one of the specific information of theapplication and the specific information of the image forming devicebeing absent in a database and in response that an authentication resultindicating that authentication is required to install and setup theapplication on the image forming device is received from theauthentication device, prompting a user to input license authenticationinformation of the application, transmitting the license authenticationinformation of the application from the transmitter to theauthentication device, receiving an authentication result indicatingthat authentication has been performed from the authentication deviceafter the authentication has been performed and completed, and deletethe authentication information after receiving the authentication resultfrom the authentication device, and transmitting the application to theimage forming device through the transmitter for installation and setupthe application on the image forming device; and in response that anauthentication result authentication result indicating thatauthentication has been performed from the authentication device,transmit the application to the image forming device for installationand setup the application on the image forming device.